Sustaining relationships is not easy. Roughly 40 percent of first marriagesfail, while subsequent marriages are even less likely to succeed. Here are 6 of the most common reasons.
1. Trust issues.
Trust is absolutely essential to the companionship and intimacy that hold relationships together. Yet it is also one of the hardest things to earn and keep. Trust issues run the gamut from financial choices to emotional dependability.
2. Infidelity and jealousy.
While trust can break down in many facets of a relationship, suspected or confirmed infidelity can be the hardest to overcome. With emotional affairs, infidelity tends to destroy nearly half of the relationships that it impacts. Even if you decide to stay together, learning to rebuild what you had before is an arduous and emotionally draining experience.
3. Communication difficulties.
Many couples struggle with communication, often claiming that they speak different languages. Yet failure to communicate can lead a once-close couple to begin operating in completely different spheres, living more as roommates than partners.
4. Lack of balance.
Unbalanced relationships are particularly common among young couples and those with new children or aging parents, but they can happen to anyone. Imbalance occurs when one or both partners fail to prioritize the relationship, instead placing unusual importance on other people or other situations.
5. Compatibility problems.
Opposites may attract, but it is extremely tough to keep a relationship of opposites together. Basic compatibility on such things as values and worldview is essential to a comfortable, long-term relationship.
6. Abusive behavior.
Abuse should never be tolerated in any relationship. Rage, disrespect, and emotional stonewalling may not be relationship-ending in and of themselves, but continuing patterns can wear people down. An inability or unwillingness to respect your partner’s thoughts, beliefs, and feelings can destroy the trust and intimacy in any relationship.
While these common issues can destroy relationships, they can also be opportunities to get your relationship back on track.
